New rules were approved Thursday aimed at protecting private property from damages during roadside utility work.

Farmers in the Blissfield area complained to the Lenawee County Road Commission this fall during installation of telephone cables.

“The contractors and the companies are going to take more responsibility,” said road commission managing director Scott Merillat. Utilities are being required to submit detailed plans well ahead of the start of any work. Licensed surveyors will be required to stake road rights of way for large projects, and the exact location of new cables or pipes will be marked so conflicts with drain tiles and other objects can be avoided, he said.

The steps now being required of utilities are ones the road commission follows for its own projects, Merillat said.

“Our problem is they damage our livelihood in a hurry when they cut through these mains,” said Mark Vandenbushe during a hearing on the rule changes. Property owners need an opportunity to mark drain tiles before the work starts, said Vandenbushe, an Ogden Township farmer and township board member.

“I think you need to take it a step further and protect the farmers,” he said. Merillat agreed to a system of sharing information with townships on utility projects being permitted.

Road commission attorney Jeffrey Juby agreed to add language suggested by farmer Gary Goetz to make clear the permits do not authorize use of private property outside the road right of way. Farmers had complained about contractors driving equipment and piling material in their fields.

Merillat said it will be important for farmers to take action in marking drain tiles ahead of utility work. Some of the problems this year resulted from farmers not knowing where the tiles were located, he said.

The new permit requirements will give property owners notice of what is planned and where it will be done, Merillat said, “so there’s a lot more discussion before we ever get to that point.”

The rule changes do not solve all the problems, said road commission board chairman Stan Wilson. But progress is being made, he said.

Juby said a complete overhaul of the permit process is planned.

“That’s a long-term plan that’s probably going to take all of next year to get done,” he said.

“I hope you leave here with the feeling that we’re working on it. It takes time,” road commissioner Donald Isley told farmers who attended the hearing.